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Criminal behaviour has genetic causes. Others believe that circumstances lead people..(Band 9 Essay)

Updated: Aug 29

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.


Write about the following topic:


Some people think that criminal behaviour has genetic causes. Others believe that it is circumstances that lead people to commit a crime.

Discuss both views and give your opinion.


Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge and experiences.


You should write at least 250 words.


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Task 2 Band 9 Essay Sample - Some people think that criminal behaviour has genetic causes. Others believe that it is circumstances that lead people to commit a crime.

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IELTS Task 2 Band 9 Sample Essay

Some people argue that violent attitude is inherited while others say that the influence of the environment make people do crimes. Though heredity works as an important factor behind involving in crimes, in my opinion, living environment is the root cause of people’s deplorable demeanour.


Criminal characteristics are claimed to be the result of the genetically gained psychological disorder. Criminals tend to share the same traits with their offspring and vice versa. The exponential growth of case numbers can be portrayed as evidence, because majority of the criminal records indicate that the offenders have familial history of committing crimes. In fact, psychiatrists reveal that in most of the behavioural therapy sessions, criminals happen to know each other by their lineages, and they have been predominantly suffering from same sorts of emotional strain and mental trauma. This might be the result of their biological traits which come to light as psychological anomalies. Thus, the violent behaviours are claimed to be associated with genetic orientation.


On the other hand, one’s upbringing and social learning environment can be directly linked to an individual’s criminal behavioural pattern. In other words, our upbringings and growing up as a child have the capability to design our view of the world, and have a direct impact on our action. For instance, people who live in an environment that is full of neglected childhood, adults’ violent attitude, physical, sexual and emotional oppression and so on, they are more like to become aggressive and violent than the ones who live in a peaceful social and familial atmosphere.


In short, criminal actions and attitude are partly due to biological or natural traits, but predominantly it is the upbringing environment that shapes a person’s outlook and actions.


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